The U.S. attorney on Wednesday filed a single bribery charge against a retired inspector at the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, making him the third employee of the agency to face federal criminal prosecution in less than two years. Samuel In, 65, agreed to plead guilty to a count of felony bribery stemming from a 2008 incident in which he accepted $5,000 in cash from a Koreatown businessman, according to documents filed in federal court. As part of his plea agreement, In admitted to accepting more than $30,000 worth of bribes involving at least a dozen properties that he handled in his official capacity between March 2007 and December 2010, said Assistant U.S. Atty.

A former Cudahy mayor was sentenced Monday to a year in federal prison for his part in taking $17,000 in bribes from a man who wanted to open a medical marijuana dispensary in the city in southeast Los Angeles County. David Silva, 62, is the second Cudahy official to be sentenced after pleading guilty to bribery and extortion. As in the previous case, U.S. District Judge Manuel Real ignored the prosecutor's sentencing recommendation. In Silva's case, Assistant U.S. Atty. Joseph Akrotirianakis recommended that he receive 41 months in prison.

At some schools in Chicago, very few parents show up for their conferences with teachers, a situation that Mayor Rahm Emanuel (Chicago is one of the cities with mayoral control of schools) proposes to fix with, let's face it, a bribe . Parents at 70 schools who show up in person to pick up their child's report card and have the related conference with the teacher will receive a Walgreens loyalty card, preloaded with enough points to provide them with $25 worth of free merchandise.

I want to tell you a secret: I might know who is going to win Literary Death Match on Wednesday night. That's because Antoine Wilson told me he wants to bribe Molly Ringwald to vote for him, and then I saw them talking. OK, I introduced them. It was after the PEN Center USA's awards dinner last month; Ringwald and her husband, Panio Gianopoulos, were headed out the door. Wilson said he wanted to meet Ringwald, because she'd be judging him in the upcoming Literary Death Match . Conversation ensued.

The former mayor of Santa Fe Springs who shook down a medical marijuana dispensary for $11,500 in bribes - leading to a widespread corruption probe in nearby Cudahy - was sentenced Monday to two years in federal prison. "This was pure greed," U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson said as he sentenced Joseph Serrano Sr. Serrano continued to take cash bribes even after FBI agents twice interviewed him. A day after talking to the agents, he met with the dispensary owner outside a Sizzler in La Mirada, where he accepted a $1,700 bribe.

Supporters of Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez, who was arrested last month in a sweeping corruption case on suspicion of taking bribes to reduce property assessments, are now being asked to donate money so he can make bail. An email sent Friday afternoon from Noguez's personal account — signed by "Friends of John Noguez" — asked for contributions to the assessor's legal fund. "As you may know, our friend John Noguez is in trouble and needs our support more than ever," the email said.

Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez, who has spent the last six days in jail after his arrest on suspicion of taking bribes to lower property tax bills, will stay behind bars a while longer. On Monday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Shelly Torrealba refused to reduce Noguez's bail below $1.16 million --the amount the county allegedly lost in tax revenue because of the scheme, prosecutors claim. Noguez's attorney, Michael Proctor, said Noguez would not be able to make that bail.

Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez and the tax consultant accused of bribing him, Ramin Salari, pleaded not guilty to a long list of corruption charges Thursday. The men, who were arrested Wednesday, are being held on more than $1-million bail each. They are scheduled to be in court again Monday to argue for lower bail and to prove that any money they use to pay it was not acquired through criminal means. Prosecutors allege that Noguez took $185,000 in bribes to illegally reduce the values of properties represented by Salari so their owners would pay lower taxes.

Re "Assessor jailed in bribe case," Oct. 18 If the charges are true regarding the corruption of Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez, then quite simply he should resign. I personally know many of the honest clerical and professional employees within the department, who are the majority. They should not be judged by the actions of a few bad apples. Certainly, the assessor's office doesn't engender warm and fuzzy feelings from most county taxpayers, but the vast majority of the department's personnel are honest and dedicated to their job of accurately and fairly establishing a property's value.

What a guy: Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), arguing on behalf of proposals that would enrich his oil-slicked state by directing the federal government to hand over more royalty money from offshore drilling, said Louisiana deserves the cash because it bears the brunt of the risks from oil production. "So that's a sacrifice that we make for people [in places like] California to be able to turn on their lights," he said during a House debate. Thanks, congressman, but really, you needn't trouble yourself.